That dopey article on the mainpage today about how winegeek jargon is "confusing bullshit" because Doug Barry isn't familiar with the word "vegetal" just got under my skin. First off, the methodology of the "survey" quoted was ridiculous. As I pointed out, they asked a thousand people who identified as "wine drinkers" about this stuff. Most wine drinkers don't know or care about what goes on under the hood; they're not hobbyists, it's not their passion, they just want a glass of wine with dinner. It would be akin to asking a thousand "car drivers" if they understood the kind of jargon that the gearheads over at Jalopnik sling around.

Every avocation, every hobby, has jargon that's somewhat opaque to the non-hobbyist. Yet the angle of the article, and at least one response to me, was that it's all made-up bullshit winegeeks do to make other people feel inferior or something.

I'll probably do an "Ask a Winegeek" tomorrow, and you can all tell me I'm a pompous fabulist who's slinging bullshit.